casual
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casual
- /ˈkaʒ(uː)əl/ UK
- /ˈkaʒjuːəl/ UK
- /ˈkazjuːəl/ UK
- /ˈkæʒ(u)əl/ US
- /ˈkæʒwəl/ US
- /ˈkɛʒ(ʉː)əl/ New Zealand
- /-uːæl/ obsolete
Where it comes from
From Middle French casuel, from Late Latin cāsuālis (“happening by chance”), from Latin cāsus (“event”) (English case), from cadere (“to fall”) (whence English cadence).
adjective more casual · most casual · casuall · cazh
-
Happening by chance.
They only had casual meetings.
Similar: accidental, fortuitous, incidental, occasional, random, accidentary, adventitious, by accident, by the by, casual, causeless, chanceable · Opposite: inevitable, necessary
-
Coming without regularity; occasional or incidental.
The purchase of donuts was just a casual expense.
Similar: ad hoc
- Employed irregularly. He was just a casual worker.
-
Careless.
I removed my jacket and threw it casually over the back of the settee.
Similar: easygoing, unconcerned, airy, at ease, at peace, carefree, careless, casual, chill, cool, devil-may-care, easy-breezy
-
Happening or coming to pass without design.
It was a casual sneer, obviously one of a long line. There was hatred behind it, but of a quiet, chronic type, nothing new or unduly virulent, and he was taken aback by the flicker of amazed incredulity that passed over the younger man's ravaged face.
Similar: unexpected, unplanned, ad lib, extemporal, extemporary, extemporaneous, extempore, extemporized, gash, impromptu, improvised, improviso · Opposite: expected, scheduled
-
Informal; relaxed.
tone in casual interactions
Similar: colloquial · Opposite: strict, formal, official
-
Designed for informal or everyday use.
pants in the casual wear collection
Similar: cas, informal · Opposite: ceremonial, formal, regulation
noun casuals · casuall · cazh
- A worker who is only working for a company occasionally, not as its permanent employee.
- A worker who is doing a particular type of job temporarily, not as a lifetime career. Of the scavagers proper there are, as in all classes of unskilled labour, that is to say, of labour which requires no previous apprenticeship, and to which any one can “turn his hand” on an emergency, two distinct orders of workmen, “the regulars and casuals” to adopt the trade terms; that is to say
- A soldier temporarily at a place of duty, usually en route to another place of duty.
- A member of a group of football hooligans who wear expensive designer clothing to avoid police attention; see casual (subculture). At 15, he became a casual: one of the label-wearing, wedge-flicking, swaggering hooligan peacock boys who dominated the north-west when I was growing up. Casuals were working-class lads (called Perry boys in Manchester) who loved football, fighting and brilliant sportswear.
- One who receives relief for a night in a parish to which he or she does not belong; a vagrant in the casual ward. During the great prevalence of vagrancy, the cost of the sick was far greater than the expense of relief. In the quarter ending June 1848, no less than 322 casuals were under medical treatment, either in the workhouse of the Wandsworth and Clapham union or at the London Fever Hospital.
- A player of casual games. The devs dumbed the game down so the casuals could enjoy it.
- A person whose engagement with media is relaxed or superficial. Casuals outnumbered regulars in the art-house audience two to one.
- A tramp. I was a boy in 1922 or 1923, when buses first started to run between the village and the town; there were tramps, casuals as they were called; the whole pattern of my boyhood was knit into a very loaded atmosphere of human character.
- Shoes suitable for everyday use, as opposed to more formal footwear. Next spring you’ll see more women than ever wearing “casuals” and “flats,” the shoes with the wedge heels or no heels at all.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: chance, accidental, occasional, free-and-easy, passing, nonchalant, everyday, irregular, easy, familiar, insouciant, perfunctory, fooling, unplanned, careless, cursory
Translations
Every language
adj happening by chance
| Español | casual |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 偶然の gūzen no |
| Português | casual, fortuito, ocasional |
| Français | fortuit, accidentel, de hasard |
| Deutsch | zufällig, beiläufig |
| Italiano | occasionale |
| Ελληνικά | τυχαίος tychaíos |
| Русский | случа́йный slučájnyj |
adj coming without regularity; occasional or incidental
| 日本語 | 偶然の gūzen no |
|---|---|
| Português | casual |
| Français | occasionnel |
| Deutsch | gelegentlich |
| Italiano | occasionale |
| Ελληνικά | περιστασιακός peristasiakós |
| Русский | случа́йный slučájnyj |
adj employed irregularly
| 日本語 | 非正規雇用の hiseiki koyō no |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | gelegentlich |
| Русский | вре́менный vrémennyj, сезо́нный sezónnyj |
adj careless
| Español | malagana |
|---|---|
| Français | désinvolte |
| Deutsch | gleichgültig |
| Italiano | noncurante |
| Русский | небре́жный nebréžnyj |
adj happening or coming to pass without design
| 日本語 | 思い掛けない omoigakenai |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | unmethodisch |
| Italiano | casuale, fortuito |
| Ελληνικά | απρόβλεπτος apróvleptos |
| Русский | непреднаме́ренный neprednamérennyj, непроизво́льный neproizvólʹnyj |
adj informal, relaxed
| Español | desenfadado, distendido, destensado, desenvuelto, desembarazado, desparpajado |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 普段の fudan no, 楽な raku na, カジュアルな kajuaru na |
| Português | casual |
| Français | informel |
| Deutsch | ungezwungen, leger, informell |
| Italiano | informale |
| Русский | неофициа́льный neoficiálʹnyj, неформа́льный neformálʹnyj |
adj designed for informal or everyday use
| Español | deportivo, (de) sport, casual |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 普段の fudan no, 日用の nichiyō no |
| Português | casual |
| Français | sport, décontracté |
| Deutsch | leger, sportlich, ungezwungen |
| Italiano | casual |
| Русский | повседне́вный povsednévnyj, непара́дный neparádnyj |
noun a person whose engagement with media is relaxed or superficial
| Español | malagana |
|---|
Talk about this word "casual." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/casual. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. casual. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/casual "casual." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/casual.Cite this
@misc{casual_2026,
title = {casual},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/casual},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
